Jan
13
Introducing IPexpert’s New IPv4/IPv6 Multicast Operation and Troubleshooting Guide
Filed Under CCIE General | Leave a Comment | by CCIE Journey
New tech focused troubleshooting workbooks in the works over at IPexpert
IPexpert is thrilled to introduce the first installment in our NEW Protocol Operation and Troubleshooting Series, IPexpert’s IPv4/IPv6 Multicast Operation and Troubleshooting. This series was designed around CCIE student feedback on specific protocols and technologies that they feel they struggled with most when preparing for the CCIE Lab exam. IPexpert’s IPv4/IPv6 Multicast Operation and Troubleshooting dives deep into the specific operations and troubleshooting technologies for key multicast areas such as IGMP, PIM Sparse Mode, multicast security and much more.
Developed by the industry’s most recognized Senior Technical Instructors, Editors, and Consultants, this new book series is sure to assist you in better understanding IPv4/IPv6 Multicast operations, troubleshooting methodologies, and time saving fault isolation techniques.
Jan
6
“The beginning is the most important part of the work.” – Plato
Filed Under CCIE General | 1 Comment | by CCIE Journey
Well here we are again. Feels kind of weird starting all over. I decided to move ahead and pursue the Security CCIE. I was thinking of going after the Service Provider CCIE, but the security track aligns much more with my experience outside of R&S. I am going to start prepping for the written in the next few days. For the written I am going to use INE’s ATC class. For my lab prep I purchased IPexpert’s BLS, and have INE’s workbooks as well.
I also still have my lab experience post I actually need to proof read and post yet :/
Oct
4
What Material To Use For The Lab?
Filed Under CCIE General | 3 Comments | by CCIE Journey
I am getting a lot of emails inquiring about what material I used to pass the lab. From May on I worked on INE’s vol 2 and 3 along with mixing in my 360 material I did earlier. If I needed some tech focused material I used my Narbik’s workbook along with INE’s ATC. One thing I can’t do is endorse one vendor over the other. I think each vendor has their own pros and cons. One thing I will say not to do, at least in the beginning, is use multiple vendor material. Do your homework, get the best deal you can and pick one vendor. After that, go through all their material step by step. If they have a guide on how best to use their material, try to follow it as best you can. I had multiple material from the start and it did nothing but slow me down and challenged my attention when it came down to doing full labs. I was always jumping around from one vendor material to another vendor material. This did absolutely nothing for me. So pick a vendor and go through all their material end to end. After that maybe mix in some other material to see how another vendor presents it.
The second piece of advice I would give is to lab as much and for as long as you can. I always worried about the theory which isn’t a bad thing, but don’t take away from your lab time for it. If you hit a technology you are weak on, lab it a couple of times then go through any videos/documentation on it. My studies didn’t gain any momentum until I started sitting the 360 online mentoring sessions by Bruce Caslow this past February. In the first one I was in, he talked about how time on the CLI will make you understand everything so much better. When I went through the Cisco 360 labs, I found that it did. Sitting down and doing at least one lab every week made a huge difference.
Sep
27
CCIE #30486
Filed Under CCIE General | 28 Comments | by CCIE Journey
I actually passed 
Glad I didn’t leave the exam site after the Troubleshooting section! Will get a blog post going on the whole experience soon!
Sep
18
Status Update 09.18.2011
Filed Under CCIE General | 1 Comment | by CCIE Journey
Sorry about the lack of any sort of updates on here the last couple of months. I pretty much shut everything social down I could to try and focus. My lab is coming up in a little over a week and this is my first real break in a while. Had a personal family issue arise we had to take care of and that took me away from alot of lab time the last four weeks. So I am going into the lab well rested I guess
I have done as much labbing as I possibly could do the last couple of months. I have taken mock labs from INE and more of the 360 labs. My scores were anywhere from a 56 to a 80. I hear no one ever feels ready for the lab, but I don’t feel really ready for the lab 
Hopefully it will be enough…
Jul
25
Status Update 07.25.2011
Filed Under CCIE General | 2 Comments | by CCIE Journey
Sorry there has been a lack of activity lately, due to work and gearing up for vacation this week there hasn’t been much time. All my free time has been thrown into lab time. My lab date is all set and paid for and will be coming up in the next few months. It feels good to be in a final push. Whether I pass or fail it is always a good feeling to be in this stage.
I took INE mock lab 1 a few weeks ago and scored a 72 on it with some minor reading mistakes I have three more scheduled and two more 360 ones to go as well. I leave for vacation for the next nine days tomorrow so I should be well rested when I get back to push through them. Right now though I am bored from all the labs and reading over the last four months so I could use a break…
Jun
20
Rest of CIERS2 with NMC
Filed Under CCIE General | Leave a Comment | by CCIE Journey
I got some emails asking where were the rest of the posts for the week so I thought I would at least get them all in one post.
Day two and four consisted of an IOU troubleshooting beta lab we got to do each day in the morning. I guess these labs are going to be released through the 360 program in the coming weeks. The labs are laid out and structured the same as you will see in the real CCIE lab. You have about thirty routers in a multiple network topology and you get ten to twelve tickets to work on. The labs were hard. There was no escaping any shortcomings in your lab prep. It came down to whether you knew the material or not. The questions were not on core topics only either. I remember back at Cisco Live in 2009 it was said in the R&S eight hour tectorial class that the upcoming troubleshooting section was just going to be on core topics. I guess that has changed since the original concept. The labs were great at showing you where you are weak in troubleshooting. It will be interesting to see how many are initially released because I still have some learning credits to use.
May
29
Routing and Switching Advanced Technologies Class Sneak Peek
Filed Under CCIE General | Leave a Comment | by CCIE Journey
The first five hours of audio have links in the blog post. Hopefully we have have the full version released soon!
Wow! I can’t believe we’re finally wrapping up this product release. It’s the longest online class we’ve ever done at just over 80 hours and at the end of the day we ended up with over 8TB (that’s 8000 gigabytes of video!) in raw format. We captured all of the video locally to the instructor in HD (720p). This allowed us to professionally edit all 150+ videos and make them available in various resolutions and formats. We are offering the videos in three 16:9 formats. The first is 640×320 and is designed for low bandwidth Internet connections and small portable devices. The second is 960×540 and is designed for standard Internet connections and tablet computers (iPad, etc). Lastly we offer a 1280×720 HD option for people with high bandwidth Internet connections and viewing on large screens (computer monitors, TVs, etc). All of the videos have a downloadable option for customers with access to them. If you’re interested in the downloadable version of the class the low bandwidth format is roughly 80 to 100MB per hour of video. The high bandwidth format is roughly 250 to 500MB per hour of video and finally the HD format is 1GB to 1.4GB per hour of video.
May
25
Join us for a complimentary, action-packed hour of our highly acclaimed ICND2 course!
Filed Under CCIE General | Leave a Comment | by CCIE Journey
Just wanted to share this from Anthony:
Join us for a complimentary, action-packed hour of our highly acclaimed ICND2 course!
What: In this hour long event, Anthony Sequeira will answer questions and guide students through a complete mastery of one of the more challenging areas for associate-level Cisco students – the Access Control List. Do not miss this event!
When: Friday, May 27, 1PM EST [ Click to Register ]
Who: Anthony (CCIE #15626) formally began his career in the Information Technology industry in 1994 with IBM. He quickly formed his own computer consultancy, Computer Solutions, and then discovered his true passion – teaching & writing about Microsoft & Cisco technologies. Anthony joined Mastering Computers in 1996 and lectured to massive audiences around the world about the latest in computer technologies. Mastering Computers became the revolutionary online training company, KnowledgeNet, and he trained there for nearly 10 years.
May
23
CIERS2 Day 1 with NMC
Filed Under CCIE General | 2 Comments | by CCIE Journey
Today was just the start of a long week. Is there such a thing as a good pain? We started out just breaking down some simple strategies, diagrams, and ideas. Then we pretty much dove right into lab 1. The lab itself was tough, but fair. There were some really tough sections that I won’t go into detail so I don’t scare anyone off. I will say this – I thought I was coming into the day totally unprepared, but after finishing the lab tonight, I don’t believe that to be true. Sure I could score a 20 on this lab tomorrow when I get my score report, but today’s lab was just what I needed to get moving again. It felt good to sit for eleven hours and just work through topic after topic. I am sure any confidence that was built up today will get crushed tomorrow, but that is OK. Got to catch the last half of Weird Science after class tonight which has to be one of the best movies to unwind to.
Day/lab 2 tomorrow…
